Field of the Technology
The disclosure relates to the field of emergency field medical devices, particularly to blood pressure cuffs or other blood pressure measuring devices.
Description of the Prior Art
Blood pressure cuffs and monitors have long been used to measure the relative blood pressure of a patient. The majority of blood pressure cuffs or monitors comprise an upper arm portion which fits around the bicep region of the patient. Other monitors comprise fingertip cuffs which attach to the individual fingers of the patient. Regardless of where the cuff attaches, once the cuff is in place, air is directed into the cuff which then begins to inflate. Many blood pressure cuffs are manual and require a user to pump air into the cuff via manipulation of a bulb or other pumping means. Still further blood pressure cuffs are automatic or are battery powered and send air into the cuff by operation of a small compression motor. As the cuff inflates, an increasing pressure is exerted on the patient until blood flow within the region of the attached cuff has stopped. Air is then slowly leaked out from the cuff until blood flow begins to return to the cuffed region, marking the value of the systolic pressure of the patient. The cuff continues to deflate until blood flow within the cuffed region returns to normal which then marks the diastolic pressure value of the patient. Using the obtained systolic and diastolic pressure values, along with a measured pulse or heart rate, a doctor, EMT, or other health care professional can have a quick basic snapshot of the one of the patient's most important biometric values, thus helping the health care professional diagnosis or treat the patient more effectively.
The problem with many blood pressure monitoring devices however is that they can be inefficient when inflating their respective cuff portions. In emergency situations, this is particularly relevant since time is of the essence and EMTs and other emergency personnel need as much medical information about the patient as soon as possible. Additionally, the EMT needs the results from the blood pressure monitoring device to be easily obtainable and legible in any environment the patient happens to be in so that the EMT has accurate medical information quickly regardless of the particular circumstances of the situation.